Chapter 332 Login again

On June 20, after receiving the combat order from the French General Staff, the entire Isle of Wight was in full swing. The four Marine Divisions and Mediterranean Fleet stationed on the island were all devoted to the preparation of combat with great enthusiasm. A large number of weapons and ammunition were transported from the warehouse and distributed to the soldiers or transferred to the transport ship. The warships were also undergoing final maintenance, striving to maintain the best state and devote themselves to the battle.

At 6 a.m. on June 21, the troops began to load ships. The 3rd Marine Division will be deployed as the first wave of attack troops to the attack on Portsmouth. At 6:20, the shelling formation led by the former Fearless Class warship, the Grand Duke, left the port and headed to Portsmouth. This shelling fleet consists of two Former Fearless Class warships, eight Bonaparte class warships and 15 Iberian class warships. They will launch shellings on Portsmouth and Southampton in turn to help the Marines clear the obstacles to the offensive.

At 6:50, the third Marine Warrior was loaded and the fleet set sail.

The Isle of Wight is very close to Portsmouth, less than 20 kilometers, and the fleet can reach up to one hour of sailing. At 7:15, the shelling fleet arrived at Portsmouth's waters. After 15 minutes of preparation, the fleet launched a fierce shelling at Portsmouth, and the British coastal artillery launched a fierce counterattack.

Portsmouth's top British commander was General Bill, one of Wellington's opponents. He was jealous after Wellington was promoted to Marshal. He believed that Wellington had failed many times in the war with France. If he could be promoted to Marshal, he should be the Minister of the Army.

At the beginning of the war, Army Secretary Hammutabee originally meant to appoint Bill as Wellington's deputy to serve as chief of staff of the Dover War Zone. However, Britain lacked an officer with sufficient qualifications and experience to serve as the supreme commander of the Portsmouth War Zone. So Bill recommended himself to Hammutabee, and after some twists and turns, he got this position as he wished. Although he knew that the current situation was very unfavorable to Britain, he finally decided to take this risk. If he could withstand the French attack, he believed that he would definitely get the marshal's power.

On June 20, when the British Army issued an order to dispatch three infantry divisions from the Portsmouth War Zone to Poole for support, he felt a little crisis. However, the orders of the Army were not something he could disobey. He could only order the divisions to strengthen their guard and guard against possible landings. At the same time, the five infantry divisions from London were required to advance at full speed and must arrive at Portsmouth before June 22. He thought that even if the French army launched an attack on Portsmouth on June 21, the five infantry divisions in his hands were enough to block the French army's attack on one day. When reinforcements arrived, it was time for them to counterattack.

When the commander of the 9th Infantry Division, who was responsible for defending the Portsmouth coast, sent someone to report to him that he had discovered the French fleet, he felt relieved. "Order the shore defense forces to launch a counterattack to protect the fortifications." At that time, Bill calmly gave the order.

The fierce artillery battle started on the coast of Portsmouth. Whether it was the French artillery fleet or the British coastal defense forces, they desperately poured shells onto the other party's heads, especially the large-caliber naval guns on the French "Former Fearless" class warships. Each shelling can leave a large pit with a diameter of dozens of meters on the coast.

Portsmouth is one of the two most important points in the southern British defense line. The British army spent a lot of effort here to deploy defenses. There were more than 100 large-caliber coastal defense cannons alone, distributed on the shore defense cannons around Portsmouth. In addition, various fortifications built on the coast are also dense, with trenches and bunkers scattered on the coast, and all fixed firepower points are poured from reinforced concrete. Unless they are directly hit by French naval cannons, it will be difficult to hurt them at all.

Although the British army's shore firepower was very fierce, due to performance reasons, their range was always smaller than that of French naval naval guns. A large number of shells exploded one or two hundred meters ahead of the French fleet, making it difficult to cause substantial damage to the French fleet.

After an hour-long artillery battle, the French naval fleet finally achieved the final victory. The British shore defense artillery suffered heavy losses under their fierce attack and had to evacuate the battlefield. The French fleet did not suffer any losses at all. There were two Iberian warships because they were too close to the coast and were hit by the British large-caliber coast defense artillery. One of them was torn to pieces on the spot, and the other was severely damaged. They had to evacuate the battlefield. With the lessons of the past, the other French warships immediately distanced the same coast to avoid the same fate.

At this time, the transport ships carrying the Marine Division had arrived, and the artillery fleet had to give up strangling the British coastal defense positions and instead committed to the attack on the British coastal defense fortifications. Under the fierce artillery of the French army, the British defense fortifications were immediately devastating. Although they had tried their best to build the fortifications, they still underestimated the power of the French naval guns. Except for a few firepower points that were at the dead end of the strike, the others were completely destroyed, and many trenches were also blown into huge deep pits or filled. Fortunately, when the French naval artillery began, the British 9th Infantry Division was ordered to withdraw from the position, otherwise it would be difficult to say that they could survive under the fierce artillery of the French army.

The artillery fire rushed for an entire hour before it ended. At 9:30 in the morning, the landing of the 3rd Marine Division began. The transport ship began to approach the coast, and the landing craft was also placed on the sea. At this time, the change of intention suddenly broke out. The silent British coastal defense position began to roar again, and a large number of shells were smashed toward the French transport ship that was approaching the coast. One transport ship was hit on the spot, the middle of the entire hull was blown off, and a whole company of soldiers on the ship fell into the water. Although the surrounding transport ships launched rescue, the vortex formed when the transport ship sank before they arrived, the vortex formed when the transport ship sank swallowed the lives of a large number of French soldiers. The entire ship had more than 200 people, and in the end less than 50 were rescued. However, this was not the biggest crisis faced by the French army. In order to avoid British artillery bombardment, many transport ships were entangled with other transport ships while hiding, causing chaos.

Seeing this situation, the 3rd Marine Division ordered each ship to continue the landing combat mission, while the warships of the Mediterranean Fleet on the sea immediately launched an oppression of the British army. In order to repel the French landing, the British coastal defense forces still fought to the death while facing the fierce shelling of the French army, and were determined to cause the greatest casualties to the French army even if the entire army was wiped out.

The shelling lasted twenty minutes before the British secret defense forces were all eliminated. During this period, five French transport ships were sunk, and five of them lost their entire 5 companies of troops.

The landing finally began. During the first wave of attack, the 3rd Marine Division invested a regiment of troops. More than 200 landing craft were flooded on the sea and drove rapidly towards the coast. Ten minutes later, the first landing craft landed. The soldiers of a squad on the boat launched an attack on the British positions under the cover of the squad with machine guns, and the Navy began to carry out extended artillery bombardment to block the British army's support to the coast.

Finally, more and more landing boats landed on the dock, and a large number of French Marines were involved in the attack on the British defense line. Gunshots and cannons were sounded to retreat to the entire beach. Almost every second, people were shot and fell down, and every second, people sacrificed their lives.

Just 20 minutes before the first wave landing, the troops of the second wave 1 regiment began to land. The 3rd Marine Division was determined to break through the British defense line with continuous fierce attacks and drive them out of the entire coast.

Under the fierce attack of the French army, the British defense line gradually became tight. Although they were extremely tenacious, the war did not determine the outcome by relying solely on courage. Sometimes, the gap in weapons could not be made up. After the French army invested the forces of two regiments, the British 9th Infantry Division lost one-third of its defense line. After the third regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division was put into operation, the 9th Infantry Division began to retreat step by step.

"Reinforcements, tell General Bill that I need to get reinforcements, otherwise I will have to give orders to retreat." The commander of the British 9th Infantry Division roared. He had sent three requests to the Portsmouth Command to request reinforcements, but every time he received an order to defend the enemy. Now, in order for his soldiers to survive, he showed up like Bill, either to give me reinforcements or I evacuate the position. By this time the battle was carried out, the casualties of the British 9th Infantry Division had reached 50%. According to convention, such a unit should have been sentenced to lose its combat effectiveness and evacuate from the battlefield, but in order to win the war, they have been persisting. However, now, they can no longer hold on and have to start finding a way out.
Chapter completed!